Bill Text: TX HB2325 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to information and communication of governmental and other entities regarding disasters and health and human services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-3)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB2325 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB2325-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Relating to information and communication of governmental and other entities regarding disasters and health and human services.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-3)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB2325 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB2325-Engrossed.html
86R21980 AAF-F | ||
By: Metcalf, Oliverson, et al. | H.B. No. 2325 |
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relating to providing information and communication regarding and | ||
during a disaster. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Sections 418.054, 418.055, 418.056, 418.057, | ||
418.058, and 418.059 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 418.054. COORDINATING 9-1-1 TEXT MESSAGE CAPABILITY. | ||
The division, in consultation with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension | ||
Service, shall coordinate state and local government efforts to | ||
make 9-1-1 emergency service capable of receiving text messages | ||
from a cellular telephone or other wireless communication device. | ||
Sec. 418.055. SOCIAL MEDIA USE DURING AND AFTER DISASTERS. | ||
The division, in consultation with any state agency or private | ||
entity the division determines is appropriate, shall develop | ||
standards for the use of social media as a communication tool by | ||
governmental entities during and after a disaster. The standards | ||
must: | ||
(1) require state agencies, political subdivisions, | ||
first responders, and volunteers that use social media during and | ||
after a disaster to post consistent and clear information; | ||
(2) optimize the effectiveness of social media use | ||
during and after a disaster; and | ||
(3) require that certain official social media | ||
accounts be used during and after a disaster only for providing | ||
credible sources of information. | ||
Sec. 418.056. DISASTER MOBILE APPLICATION. (a) The | ||
division shall develop a mobile application for wireless | ||
communication devices to communicate critical information during a | ||
disaster directly to disaster victims and first responders. | ||
(b) The mobile application may provide information on: | ||
(1) road and weather conditions during a disaster; and | ||
(2) disaster response and recovery activities. | ||
Sec. 418.057. DISASTER WEB PORTAL. The division shall | ||
develop a comprehensive disaster web portal. The web portal must: | ||
(1) provide disaster information to the public, | ||
including information on programs and services available to | ||
disaster victims and funding for and expenditures of disaster | ||
assistance programs; | ||
(2) include information on disaster response and | ||
recovery activities; and | ||
(3) provide information on obtaining assistance from | ||
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, state agencies, organized | ||
volunteer groups, and any other entities providing disaster | ||
assistance. | ||
Sec. 418.058. USE OF DATA ANALYTICS IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT. | ||
To the extent feasible, the division shall use data analytics | ||
software to integrate data from federal, state, local, and | ||
nongovernmental sources to more effectively manage disaster | ||
response and recovery. | ||
Sec. 418.059. STUDY ON STANDARD COMMUNICATION FORMAT. (a) | ||
To improve the state's response to disasters, the division shall | ||
conduct a study on the use of a standard communication format by | ||
first responders to create a common interoperable operating | ||
framework during a disaster. The study must: | ||
(1) examine the costs and benefits of promoting the | ||
use of a standard communication format to create a comprehensive | ||
common operating framework that is interoperable across networks; | ||
(2) identify any costs that first responders may incur | ||
in acquiring equipment complying with a standard communication | ||
format; and | ||
(3) identify necessary actions to adopt a standard | ||
communication format. | ||
(b) Not later than September 1, 2020, the division shall | ||
submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, and members of the | ||
legislature a report on the findings of the study. | ||
(c) This section expires December 1, 2020. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 418, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 418.127 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 418.127. DISASTER PREPAREDNESS COMMUNITY OUTREACH. To | ||
the extent practicable, the following entities shall conduct | ||
community outreach, including public awareness campaigns, and | ||
education activities on disaster preparedness each year: | ||
(1) municipalities and counties; | ||
(2) the department, including the division; | ||
(3) the Texas Education Agency; | ||
(4) the office of the comptroller; | ||
(5) the Texas Department of Insurance; | ||
(6) the Texas Department of Transportation; | ||
(7) the Texas Department of Housing and Community | ||
Affairs; | ||
(8) the Health and Human Services Commission; and | ||
(9) the Department of State Health Services. | ||
SECTION 3. Subchapter H, Chapter 418, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 418.193 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 418.193. LOCAL EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE REGISTRY PLANS. | ||
(a) In this section, "emergency assistance registry" means the | ||
registry maintained by the division that provides local emergency | ||
planners and emergency responders with additional information on | ||
the needs of certain individuals in their communities. | ||
(b) An emergency management director described by Section | ||
418.1015 shall develop a plan to use information from the emergency | ||
assistance registry during the political subdivision's response to | ||
a disaster. The emergency management director shall publish the | ||
plan on: | ||
(1) the political subdivision's Internet website; and | ||
(2) the department's Internet website in accordance | ||
with Subsection (c). | ||
(c) The division shall develop a process by which a plan | ||
developed by an emergency management director under Subsection (b) | ||
may be published to the department's Internet website. The | ||
division shall establish a designated area on the department's | ||
Internet website for the public to view the plan. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |